Iranian Armenia (1502–1828)
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Iranian Armenia (1502–1828) refers to the period of
Eastern Armenia Eastern Armenia ( hy, Արևելյան Հայաստան ''Arevelyan Hayastan'') comprises the eastern part of the Armenian Highlands, the traditional homeland of the Armenian people. Between the 4th and the 20th centuries, Armenia was partitioned ...
during the early-modern and late-modern era when it was part of the Iranian empire. Armenians have a history of being divided since the time of the Byzantine Empire and the
Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
, in the early 5th century. While the two sides of Armenia were sometimes reunited, this became a permanent aspect of the Armenian people. Following the Arab and
Seljuk Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * Seljuk (warlord) (di ...
conquests of Armenia, the western portion, which was initially part of Byzantium, became eventually part of the Ottoman Empire, otherwise known as Ottoman Armenia, while the eastern portion became and was kept part of the Iranian
Safavid Empire Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
,
Afsharid Empire Afsharid Iran ( fa, ایران افشاری), also referred as the Afsharid Empire was an Iranian empire established by the Turkoman Afshar tribe in Iran's north-eastern province of Khorasan, ruling Iran (Persia). The state was ruled by the Af ...
and
Qajar Empire Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...
, until it became part of the Russian Empire in the course of the 19th century, following the Treaty of Turkmenchay of 1828.


Safavid Empire

Due to its strategic significance, Armenia was constantly fought over and passed back and forth between the dominion of Iran and the
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
. At the height of the Ottoman-Persian Wars, Yerevan changed hands fourteen times between 1514 and 1736. In 1604, Shah Abbas I pursued a
scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...
campaign against the Ottomans in the Ararat valley. The old Armenian town of Julfa in the province of Nakhichevan was taken early in the invasion. From there, Abbas' army fanned out across the Araratian plain. The Shah pursued a careful strategy, advancing and retreating as the occasion demanded, determined not to risk his enterprise in a direct confrontation with stronger enemy forces. While laying siege to
Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...
, he learned of the approach of a large Ottoman army, commanded by Djghazadé
Sinan Pasha Koca Sinan Pasha ( tr, Koca Sinan Paşa, "Sinan the Great"; c. 1506 - 3 April 1596) was an Albanian-born Ottoman Grand Vizier, military figure, and statesman. From 1580 until his death he served five times as Grand Vizier. In a Ragusan documen ...
. The order to withdraw was given; but to deny the enemy the potential to resupply themselves from the land, he ordered the wholesale destruction of the Armenian towns and farms on the plain. As part of this, the whole population was ordered to accompany the Iranian army in its withdrawal. Some 300,000 people were duly herded to the banks of the Araxes River. Julfa was treated as a special case; he entrusted its evacuation to a renegade
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
prince, Hanis Thahmaz-Ghuli Bek. He told Julfa's residents that they had three days to prepare for deportation to Iran; anyone still in town after those three days would be killed. Those who attempted to resist the mass deportation were killed outright. The Shah had previously ordered the destruction of the only bridge, and although Iranian soldiers helped the Julfaites to cross on horses and camels, the rest of the deportees had to cross on their own, so people were forced into the waters, where a great many drowned, carried away by the currents, before reaching the opposite bank. This was only the beginning of their ordeal. One eyewitness, Father de Guyan, describes the predicament of the refugees thus: ::''It was not only the winter cold that was causing torture and death to the deportees. The greatest suffering came from hunger. The provisions which the deportees had brought with them were soon consumed... The children were crying for food or milk, none of which existed, because the women's breasts had dried up from hunger... Many women, hungry and exhausted, would leave their famished children on the roadside, and continue their tortuous journey. Some would go to nearby forests in search of something to eat. Usually they would not come back. Often those who died, served as food for the living.'' Unable to maintain his army on the desolate plain, Sinan Pasha was forced to winter in
Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...
. Armies sent in pursuit of the Shah in 1605 were defeated, and by 1606 Abbas had regained all of the territory lost to the Turks earlier in his reign. The scorched-earth tactic had worked, though at a terrible cost to the Armenian people. Of the 300,000 deported, it is estimated that under half survived the march to
Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
. In the conquered territories, Abbas established the
Erivan khanate The Erivan Khanate ( fa, خانات ایروان, translit=Xānāt-e Iravān; hy, Երեւանի խանութիւն, translit=Yerevani xanut'iwn; az, ایروان خانلیغی, translit=İrəvan xanlığı), also known as Chokhur-e Sa'd, was ...
, a
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
principality under the dominion of the
Safavid Empire Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
. As a result of the continuous wars in the region and Shah Abbas I's deportation of much of the Armenian population from the Ararat valley and the surrounding region, in 1605 Armenians formed less than 20% of its population.


Afsharid empire


Qajar empire


Governors


Safavid

*
Div Sultan Rumlu Div Sultan Rumlu ( fa, دیو سلطان روملو) was a Turkmen military commander and politician from the Rumlu clan, one of the seven chief Qizilbash tribes which provided crack troops for Safavid guard. In 1516-1527, he served as the gove ...
(1516–1527) *Shahqoli Soltan Ustajlu *
Tokhmaq Khan Ustajlu Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq Ustajlu ( fa, محمد خان تخماق استاجلو, translit=Mohammad Xān Toxmāq Ostājlu), also commonly known as Tokhmaq Khan Ustajlu ( fa, تخماق خان استاجلو, links=no), was a 16th-century Iranian of ...
(1568–1575) - 1st term *Abu Torab Soltan *Khalil Khan Afshar *Tokhmaq Khan Ustajlu (1578–1583) - 2nd term *Abbasqoli Khan Qajar * Safi Khan Lezgi (1666–1674) *Saru Beg *
Safiqoli Khan Mirman Mirimanidze, better known as Safiqoli Khan (died 1631), was a Safavid official and ''gholam'' who served during the reigns of Abbas I (1588-1629) and Safi (1629-1642). Biography Safiqoli's original name was Mirman, and he was a member of ...
(1674–1679) *Zal Khan *Abd al-Masud Khan * Mohammad-Ali Khan of Yerevan (?–1716) *Mohammad-Ali Khan's son (1716–?) *Kay Khosrow Khan Cherkes *
Mohammad-Qoli Khan of Yerevan Mohammad-Qoli Khan or Mohammad-Qoli Khan b. Laleh Beg ( fl. 17th-century), was a Safavid official who served as the governor (''beglarbeg'') of the Erivan Province (also known as Chokhur-e Sa'd) in 1654–1656, succeeding the Circassian Kaykh ...
(1654–1656) *
Najafqoli Khan Cherkes Najafqoli Khan or Najafqoli Khan b. Qazaq Khan Cherkes was an Safavid Iran, Iranian ''Military_of_Safavid_Iran#Gholam, gholam'' of Circassians, Circassian origin, who served as ''beglerbeg'' (governor) of Safavid Shirvan, Shirvan (1st term; 1653, ...
(1656–1663) *Abbasqoli Khan * Constantine II of Kakheti (1722–?)


See also

* Russian Armenia *
Blue Mosque, Yerevan The Blue Mosque is an 18th-century Persian Shia mosque in Yerevan, Armenia. It was commissioned by Huseyn Ali Khan, the khan of the Iranian Erivan Khanate. It is one of the oldest extant structures in central Yerevan and the most significant str ...
*
Abbas Mirza Mosque, Yerevan Abbas Mirza Mosque ( hy, Աբաս Միրզայի մզկիթ (''Abas Mirzayi mzkit), fa, مسجد عباس میرزا, az, Abbas Mirzə məscidi) was a nineteenth-century Shia mosque in Yerevan, Armenia. Abbas Mirza, in the eighteenth centur ...
*
Shah Abbas Mosque, Yerevan The Shah Abbas Mosque was a 17th-century mosque in Yerevan, Armenia. It was built during the rule of the Iranian Safavid king (Shah) Abbas I (the Great). The Shah Abbas Mosque in Ganja, was built at the same time. See also * Abbas Mirza Mosq ...
* Ottoman Armenia *
Sasanian Armenia Sasanian Armenia, also known as Persian Armenia and Persarmenia ( hy, Պարսկահայաստան – ''Parskahayastan''), may either refer to the periods in which Armenia ( pal, 𐭠𐭫𐭬𐭭𐭩 – ''Armin'') was under the suzerainty of ...


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iranian Armenia (1502-1828) Provinces of the Safavid dynasty Early Modern history of Armenia Armenia–Iran relations Iranian people of Armenian descent Persian Armenians Geographic history of Iran Early Modern history of Iran